Tea Leaves
by InactiveNoLongerUsed
Summary: Rose predicts everybody else's perfect match by using Divination, but what she doesn't expect is what she sees when she looks into the cup and tries to find out who her perfect match is.
1. Roses Are Red

**So, just to get everything straightened out before you start:**

**1/. Scorpius is a Gryffindor for the purposes of this story. Yes, I'm using the cliche that he's best friends with Rose and Albus.**

**2/. Rose, despite her mother's dislike for the subject, has a natural talent for Divination.**

**3/. They're all fourth-years, if my maths is right :).**

**4/. I've actually written the whole story out although I might go and rewrite one or two bits. If nothing changes, then this is going to be just four chapters. It was inspired by me sitting in front of the computer and the line 'You have got to be kidding me' just popping in my mind. Yes, this story is actually really short...**

**Enjoy!**

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**Thursday 11th February 2021**

"You have _got_ to be kidding me," Albus said in disbelief as he watched Rose painting in large pink letters on the corridor wall. He had known that she wanted to graffiti on the wall, but in pink letters? Bubble-gum pink, no less. And he didn't even want to think about what she was going to write.

Rose laughed lightly at her cousin as she finished writing a massive pink '_Trelawney_'. She siphoned off some of the paint that had splattered to either side of the word before painting a huge plus sign next to the word. Then she danced along about a foot and began to form a huge cursive _S_ on the wall. A general air of happiness radiated from the girl as she went about graffiti-ing the walls of Hogwarts, as though she really couldn't think of anything better to do after curfew.

Next to Albus, Scorpius was smiling slightly. "I think it's a good idea. It'll certainly get peoples' attention."

Albus frowned disapprovingly at his friend. "Shut up, Scorpius. You're just making it worse. She's a _prefect_, for heaven's sake! She should be responsible."

"Spoilsport," Rose stuck her tongue out, finishing writing the word _Slughorn_. Albus gaped at the two names as he guessed what was coming next. Sure enough, underneath the names Rose was painting the number '4'.

Sinking down onto the floor, Albus sighed in despair. Scorpius had the audacity to laugh at the messy-haired boy, finding his actions incredibly amusing. Albus disagreed strongly. This was anything _but_ amusing. What if they were caught? By Slughorn or Trelawney? Or both? Then they would be skinned alive for potions ingredients by Slughorn - there had to be one or two potions that required the skin of students - or be plagued by a curse from Trelawney.

"Do you really think that Trelawney and Slughorn are made for each other?" Scorpius said, a tad sceptically as he watched Rose step back to admire her finished work, which read _Slughorn + Trelawney 4 Ever_. Albus made a noise that sounded a lot like, 'why do you even ask?' from his place on the cold and, admittedly, uncomfortable floor.

Rose considered this question for a moment before shrugging. "Why not? The tea leaves never lie. Speaking of which, they gave me another prediction that I also have to write down."

As she conjured up some rose-red paint, Albus buried his face in his arms. Ever since third-year, Rose had been attempting to be matchmaker to the school by reading peoples' fortunes in the tea leaves. Trelawney had actually supported this idea before, although Albus wondered what the Professor would think of this latest prediction. Maybe she would withdraw her support and refuse to teach Rose anything else about the art of reading tea leaves - whatever it was called.

Several minutes passed in silence, save for Rose starting to softly sing Celestina Warbeck's _A Cauldron Full of Hot, Strong Love_. Then, Scorpius started laughing. A lot. Albus frowned as he stared at the floor. At first, he refused to look up, fearing the worst. Unfortunately, when Rose started laughing as well, his curiosity got the better of him and he raised his face so that he could read what was causing such a reaction.

It took him less than a ten seconds to realise. To his utter horror, written in equally big, red letters several feet away from Slughorn and Trelawney's prediction, was _Albus + Yasmin = True Love_. He let out a martyr's sigh. "Rose, don't do this to me. Please."

"Hey, I read it in the leaves. It's true. Gonna happen," Rose said matter-of-factly as she idly began to paint _Roses Are Red_ in tiny letters at the bottom of the wall.

"Face it, Al. Rosie's not often wrong," Scorpius said comfortingly through his rather unmanly giggles that had started again when he had looked at Albus's mortified face.

"Hmph," Albus said grumpily as he allowed the other boy to help him off of the ground.

"Besides," Rose turned away from the wall to beam at her cousin, "you do fancy her, don't you? It's meant to be. I'll bet she likes you too, but you just have to be man enough to ask her out. Even if she does say 'no', then at least you tried, right?"

Scorpius looked at Rose thoughtfully and then turned to Albus. "She's right. And this is one of the only chances you might get to ask her out on _Valentine_'s Day. Otherwise she'll probably be asked out by another bloke and then what'll you do? Curl up in a corner and cry?"

"You're a nice one to speak," Albus retorted as they made their way back to the Gryffindor common room. It was remarkable how lax patrols had become leading up to St. Valentine's Day, Albus thought to himself. Really, especially with this particular day, patrols ought to be made more strict.

"Why? Do you like somebody, Scorpius?" Rose asked curiously. Inwardly, she felt oddly panicked, although she wasn't sure exactly why.

Scorpius shot Albus a dirty look. "Yeah, but don't worry about it. I don't won't to talk about it, _Potter_."

Albus childishly stuck his tongue out at his best friend. "The truth always comes out in the end, _Malfoy_."

"_Mandrake root_," Rose said to the portrait of the Fat Lady, stepping inside almost the instant it swung open. The common room was lit only dimly by the fireplace, which contained a dying fire. Whipping around to face the two of them, Rose said pleadingly. "Would you guys please tell me who you're talking about?"

The two boys shared a look that involved a lot of evil eyes before both shaking their heads. Sighing in frustration, Rose threw her hands up into the air and muttered irritably. "Fine. But I'm going to find out, mark my words. You can't ever hide things from _me_, boys. Good night."

She stormed melodramatically up the stairs leading to the girls' dorms, leaving Albus and Scorpius alone in the common room with the dying fire.


	2. Violets Are Blue

**Just another short chapter. I don't really like this one, but hey...**

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**Friday 12th February 2021**

"Tell me, Albus, please," Rose whispered as she sat with her cousin in the library. They had both come here with the intention of studying, but Rose had decided there were more pressing things to do than complete an essay for Professor Longbottom.

"Rose, shush," Albus, on the other hand, was actually trying to do his homework. He was worried that he had only done one paragraph in approximately forty-five minutes - if it kept on like this, it would take him all _day_ to complete his homework. Really, he had other essays to write.

Rose gave him her puppy-dog eyes, which would have worked just fine, except for the fact that he wasn't looking at her. "Al, be a dear. Us three have always told one another our secrets -" he gave her a sceptical look but she continued regardless - "and I feel left out now. It's not like I'd use it against him."

Albus raised his eyebrows but refused to say anything else, instead managing to complete his sentence. When it became clear that he had no comment to make, Rose frowned and prodded him in the ribs. "_Albus_."

"Look, why do you care so much?" Albus challenged, finally putting down his quill and leaning back into his chair with a sigh. "I know he's your friend and all, but can't friends have one or two secrets?"

"I want to know who it is!" Rose exclaimed, aware that Albus had a point but not yet willing to give up her cause.

"He can fancy whoever he wants to. It's none of our business. Just leave me alone so I can finish this essay."

"No," Rose crossed her arms across her chest grumpily. Then an idea hit her and she sat up straight in her chair, her eyes turning mischievous. "But, you know... I will stop talking if you promise me one thing."

Albus had a sinking feeling he knew where this was going. Nevertheless, he nodded to signal that she could continue. Beaming, she finished. "Ask Yasmin to go to Hogsmeade with you on Valentine's Day."

"I can't do that, Rose," Albus ran his hand through his hair distractedly. The very idea of it made his stomach do somersaults.

"I'll stop talking if you write her a love poem," Rose offered, grinning wickedly. Albus frowned at her to show her that he was distinctly un-amused.

"What would I say? I hate poetry."

"Oh, I dunno. Roses are red, violets are blue... that sort of thing," Rose suggested. It was worth it just to see Albus's stunned look. "Okay, okay. Fine. You don't have to write poetry or anything. Just ask her to go to Hogsmeade with you. It's not that hard. Just a teensy little question, but it could make you oh-so-happy, Allie, dear."

"Don't call me that," Albus reprimanded. He seemed to think over what she was saying, though. "Okay, I'll do it, but only if you promise me that you'll never bother me again about my love life."

Rose's mouth fell open at the audacity of his request. "What... I... how..."

Albus smiled at her, sure that he was going to win this one. Rose was naturally a control freak and liked running other peoples' lives as well as her own, especially when it came to other peoples' love lives. The very idea of not being able to do that to her best friend was obviously causing her some grief. Albus picked up his quill again and continued writing, taking advantage of this silence.

Rose narrowed her eyes at her cousin. Oh, so he thought that he could get away with this? Never. "Fine. Okay. I won't ever meddle in your love life again. Ha! Now you have to ask her out. You promised."

Albus opened his mouth to deny it, but realised that she was right. Shit. He'd dug himself into a hole and it wasn't even lunchtime yet. Checking his watch, he said snappily. "Okay. You've got Divination now. Have fun."

"I will," Rose said sweetly as she packed up her books and swept away from the table.

_Stupid girls_, Albus fumed to himself as he searched for a quote to add into his essay.

* * *

"Can you believe that she made me do that?" Albus complained to Scorpius as they walked towards the lake after lunch.

"Yes, she's pretty crafty," Scorpius shrugged, stepping to the side of a patch of stinging nettles.

Albus glared at him and then let out a cry as his hand touched some of the nettles. "Ow... hmph... you're biased, Scorpius, and you know it."

"You've got to learn to watch where you're going, Potter," Scorpius said smartly, then his expression turned serious. "I know I am... d'you think she knows?"

"Rose?" Albus stopped several feet away from the lake and stared at it as though it had personally offended him. "Nope. She's not got a clue."

"Do you think you could ask her?"

Albus said nothing for a few seconds, letting himself consider the pros and cons of doing so. He didn't really like the idea of him interfering in somebody else's problems - Rose did enough of that for the both of them - but Scorpius did seem pretty desperate. It wasn't like Scorpius to hold back for so long without saying something about what he was feeling, either. Scorpius was usually the kind of person who wore his heart on his sleeve and then people payed hell if they messed with his feelings. This time, though, he was making such an effort to keep silent that Albus wondered if he was as serious about Rose as Albus was about Yasmin.

A soft breeze rippled the waters of the lake and Albus blinked. "I suppose so. Actually, I do have an idea. It's not necessarily going to work in your favour, though."

Scorpius frowned at the grass, scuffing it a bit with his shoe. "I don't care. Just do something. I don't want to ruin my friendship with her, just remember that. Don't tell her anything about what I feel."

Albus sighed. "Of course I won't, you twat. But I think you should do something about this yourself - oh, I know you don't want to ruin anything but still. It seems like I've become awfully involved in love lives recently. My own, yours, Rose's."

"Not that much," Scorpius scoffed. "But, hey, maybe you could be Rose's partner in match-making crime."

Albus's glare was enough of an answer.


	3. Cashews Are Nuts

**Okay, guys... I'm not usually the kind of person who is bothered by the amounts of reviews or anything - I write because I love writing. However, a lot of you have favourited this story and/or alerted this story but not actually bothered reviewing. I love the fact the you've favourited, really I do, but I'd love it even more if I could actually get some feedback and your thoughts on the story.  
**

**That said, thank you to everybody for favouriting/alerting/ and Olga () for reviewing :).  
**

**Enjoy!  
**

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**Saturday 13th February 2021**

Rose was staring at the teacup with a mixture of surprise, confusion and an odd feeling of happiness. She had never thought about asking for what her future held for her as far as love was concerned - not until Albus had casually asked her about it at breakfast. It wasn't like Albus to be interested in Divination, but he had made a valid point. It had just never occurred to her to ask what was in store for her to her precious tea leaves.

The reason for her surprise were two tea leaves, one of which was in the shape of what looked like a rose and the other was in the shape of a scorpion. Rose might've been able to argue against what they were telling her, but unfortunately she just couldn't think of any other meaning for a scorpion than the most obvious one. She had even tried turning the cup around and tipping her head to the other side, but the leaves didn't make any sense at all if they were read in any other way than this. It looked like she might have to face the obvious and just go with it.

Reaching out to the bowl of cashew nuts - her favourite snack - on her bed, she popped several into her mouth and chewed thoughtfully. Well, if it was meant to be then that would explain the weird feelings she'd been having when she looked at Scorpius. That odd flutter in her stomach, the strange urge to both look into his eyes and also turn away in embarrassment. Rose had, rather naively she thought now, put it down to eating something weird for mealtimes or just the odd lovey-dovey air that had enveloped the school in the last three or four days.

The door to her room whooshed open and then slammed shut. Rose looked up, startled, to see Yasmin bounding into the room, her dark brown curls bobbing up and down to match her gait. "Rosie! Guess what happened? Guess?"

"Um... Trelawney and Slughorn snogged in front of everybody in the corridor?" Rose hazarded, pouring some more tea into her cup so that any clues as to what had been there before were obliterated.

Yasmin sat down on her bed, which was next to Rose's. "No. Why on earth would they do that? Hey, can I have one of those sweets?"

"Cashews are nuts," Rose corrected her, offering her the bowl. "But sure, take as many as you want. So, what happened?"

Yasmin helped herself to the cashews, squealing with delight and bouncing up and down on her bed. "Albus asked me to go to Hogsmeade with him tomorrow!"

Rose beamed at her friend, inwardly cheering at what she perceived to be her own match-making skills. "That's wonderful! Did he ask you just now?"

"Literally five minutes ago. He looked so nervous that I felt like _I_ should be the one asking _him_, but it doesn't matter because he managed it!" Yasmin's eyes were glowing. She leaped up from her bed and ran over to her trunk, opening the lid of it excitedly. "Oh, Rose, what should I wear?"

"Keep it natural," Rose shrugged as she drank the rest of the now-cold tea. She made a face. "Bleurgh. Cold tea and Rose Weasley don't mix."

"Cold tea and everybody don't mix," Yasmin pointed out as she closed the lid of her trunk and jumped up and down on the spot several times. "Oh, I don't know whether to wear the blue dress or the green dress or the yellow one or just jeans... Rosie, be a dear and help me."

Rose frowned at her friend. "Well, first of all, it's going to snow tomorrow, apparently, so maybe wearing a dress isn't such a good idea. Secondly, you don't really need to get all dressed up or anything. It's just another trip to Hogsmeade, look at it that way."

Yasmin sighed and closed the lid of her trunk, sitting down on the bed next to Rose. She fiddled with her dark brown curls thoughtfully as she stared at the Weasley girl. "Rosie, we need to get you a date as well. I feel really bad being all excited when you're going to go alone."

Rose smiled widely. "Don't be silly, Yasmin. It's wonderful seeing you so happy. I don't mind at all."

"We still need to find you someone," Yasmin pouted, hugging her knees as she looked worriedly at her trunk. Obviously, Rose's reassurances hadn't made much of an impression upon her.

Rose hesitated. "I... kind of do have somebody."

"Oooh! Who is he? Tell me, Rosie! I promise I won't breath a word to anybody," Yasmin's eyes lit up again, although they had never really stopped glowing in the first place. She leaned towards Rose and gave her her puppy-dog eyes. Rose laughed and pushed Yasmin so that the other girl fell onto her back on the bed.

"Nope. You'll find out soon enough, if everything goes as planned, anyway," Rose said mysteriously, causing Yasmin to howl in disappointment. The dark-skinned girl thwacked Rose lightly on the arm before bouncing up onto her feet again, unable to stay still.

"Fine, Rose Weasley. Be that way. I'll find out, though, mark my words," she said dramatically. Then she made an equally dramatic-looking exit, flouncing away with a feigned evil eye.

Rose stared at where her usually serious friend had been just moments before in bewilderment. Well, it seemed that love really did make people go crazy. She smiled slowly. It seemed like a good way to be.

* * *

Rose took a deep, steadying breath as she made her way over to where Scorpius was sitting on the sofa in the Gryffindor common room. She could feel her heart thudding nervously in her chest, but she ignored it and plowed onward, plunking herself down next to him. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw him look up quickly and then look away again.

The fire crackled atmospherically in the fireplace as Rose wondered what she should say. Maybe she should just keep it dead simple and hope for the best. If he did say 'no', she could always Obliviate him. She chuckled at the idea of the Professors' faces if they found out that she had done that just because Scorpius had turned her down. Well, love was a dangerous thing, now wasn't it? Not that Rose believed she was in _love_ with Scorpius. But she certainly liked him as more than a friend.

"Scorpius?" Rose said finally, keeping her eyes fixed on the fire.

"Mmm?"

Rose inhaled deeply through her nostrils. "I was wondering..."

He turned to look at her curiously, eyes reflecting the light from the fireplace and turning an odd gold-y colour that looked rather unnatural. It unnerved her slightly, although she also found it eerily beautiful. "What is it, Rosie?"

Damn. She had hoped that she could just say it in one quick breath, but now she found her wits leaving her. "... do you... um... would you... er..."

"Yeah?" Scorpius raised his pale eyebrows and Rose forced herself to stay where she was, although all she really wanted to do was bolt from the common room.

"Do you... do you want to... erm... go...-" this is getting pathetic, she thought - "... do you want to go to Hogsmeade with me tomorrow?"

Phew. It was out. Now for his response. Rose finally found the courage to actually look him in the eye. She held her breath. The sounds of the common room seemed very distant as she focused all her attention on listening to what he was going to say.

"Um... okay, so this is going to sound really stupid," he began, suddenly looking as nervous as she felt, "but do you mean as friends or..."

Ah. Rose wondered what she could say. She could trash this stupid idea of asking him on a date and just go as friends. It wouldn't be that hard. She just had to pretend that that was what she had meant. They had gone to Hogsmeade as friends so many times before, she wondered why she hadn't predicted that he would assume she meant the same as always. Deciding that the truth was probably the best idea, she shook her head. "I didn't mean as friends."

"Oh."

The small word was loaded with meaning. Rose wondered how she was supposed to interpret it. Fortunately, Scorpius decided to elaborate before she dug herself into her own grave. "I think that's sounds really good, Rosie. Ten o'clock?"

"Sure. Ten o'clock," Rose beamed at him, the noise rushing back to her now that she had done what she had come down to do. She relaxed into the sofa, extremely glad that she had had the courage to ask him.

Scorpius frowned slightly at the carpeted floor, breaking the momentary silence. "You know... I'm really glad you asked me, Rose. I wouldn't have been able to ask you."

"Did you want to ask me?" Rose felt as though she really couldn't get any happier today. Everything had gone so perfectly.

"Yeah. I wanted to - a lot - but I was afraid that you would say no and then things would be weird between us," he said honestly, his frown disappearing as he smiled at her. "Although I didn't expect you to ask me. I've always assumed I would be the one who had to go and do that."

"You doubted my courage?" Rose said teasingly, smacking him lightly on the arm. "I'm a feminist. I can do things for myself."

Scorpius opened his mouth to say something in reply, but at that moment a third-year boy practically fell through the entrance to the common room, red-faced and panting. Everybody looked up and stared at him confusedly, one or two of them getting up from their seats and rushing over to him to make sure that he was uninjured.

"Guess... what?" the boy managed to gasp as he took deep gulps of air, a smile spreading out across his face as he took in the faces of his fellow Gryffindors.

"What?" a girl with short black hair demanded fiercely as she looked up from her game of Exploding Snaps. "Spit it out."

"Slughorn and Trelawney just snogged each other in the corridor!"


	4. And So Are You

******Pfft. So I got impatient because I've started on another story and wanted to get this one out into the open before I lost interest in it. Thanks so much to everybody who favourited/alerted/reviewed! Also, did anybody notice that the names of the chapters are mentioned in the chapters themselves :). And I got the 'Roses Are Red, Violets Are Blue, Cashews Are Nuts, And So Are You' from the internet - which is really sometimes quite a cool contraption. **

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******Sunday 14th February 2021**

"Do you want to go into the Three Broomsticks?" Scorpius asked her as they walked down the street. A small flurry of snow flew past them, and Rose closed her eyes, breathing in the cold, fresh air.

"Mmm... I don't know. I thought we could maybe go to the Shrieking Shack?" Rose opened her eyes and glanced at Scorpius to see what he thought. It felt so natural to be doing this, walking down the street with him. It was almost as though it weren't a date - they had been so many times before together as just friends that it was difficult to break that habit. In fact, Rose was sort of glad that they hadn't actually treated each other as anything but friends yet. Somehow, the idea of them _dating_ each other wasn't something she could quite get around her head yet.

Scorpius shrugged. "Sure. Why not?"

They began to steadily walk out of the town and towards where they knew the ancient-looking shack was. Rose reached down and scooped up some snow in her hand then hurled it at a tree that was obstructing their path. The snow splattered beautifully everywhere, contrasting sharply with the dark brown wood of the tree.

"Did Albus ask you anything yesterday?" Scorpius said hesitantly once they passed the last line of buildings in the town. He was looking at Rose in part-curiosity, part-nervousness. The chilly wind caused them both to shiver slightly, although they ignored it in favour of the question at hand.

Rose chewed her lip as she thought about what Albus had said to her the day before, finally alighting on what Scorpius might have meant. "He asked me whether I had ever tried seeing my own... love life or whatever, in the tea leaves."

"Did you?"

"Yesterday evening, yes," Rose said, half-embarrassed although she wasn't sure why. To cover it up, she grabbed some more snow in her fist and threw it at Scorpius, sticking her tongue out at him. At first, he looked shocked and then he started laughing. For the first time, Rose actually noticed the way her stomach quivered at the sound, and she wondered how she could have been so blind to it before.

Lost as she was in her admittedly rather pleasant thoughts, she didn't see the snowball coming until it hit her on the shoulder. She ran some way up the path and gathered more snow, then straightened up and threw it directly at him. He continued to walk more sedately his hands behind his back until he caught up with her. Then he raised his hands and threw some of the powdery white snow into her hair.

The cold seeped through her hair, turning some parts of it wet. Strangely enough, Rose found that she didn't mind at all. Instead she flashed a smile at him and said conversationally. "You know what else I read in the tea leaves last night?"

He fell into step beside her as they started to walk again. "Um... Filch's cat found a mate at long last?"

Rose giggled. "Nope. Actually, I read that Slughorn and Trelawney are going to get married."

"Wow, that was quick."

"Not now, obviously. I meant in a year or so," Rose snorted, poking him in the ribs. She leapt over a large branch that had fallen down, her feet sinking several inches into the snow when she landed. She plowed through the snow as she continued. "And it's going to be here at Hogwarts, because I remember Trelawney telling me once that her wedding would be next to the lake on the grounds."

"So, let me guess, we're all invited?" Scorpius raised his eyebrows at her.

"Yep, you've got it."

Scorpius furrowed his brow in thought as his mind travelled back to what he had intended to ask her before she had hit him with a snowball. "Rose... what did you see in the tea leaves, if you don't mind me asking?"

Rose flushed slightly. "No... it's okay, you asking, I mean. I... I saw a rose."

"And?"

"A scorpion," Rose whispered, finding this more embarrassing than she had previously predicted it would be. Oh, she had planned on telling him one day, if everything worked out. But somehow the real thing was a lot more embarrassing.

Scorpius digested that for a moment. They stopped as they reached the Shrieking Shack, both pausing for a moment to take in the rickety old building. So many life-changing events had happened here that it was hard not be in awe of it. Then Scorpius turned to Rose, staring at her for a second before he asked softly. "Did I ever tell you that you're beautiful?"

Rose's breath caught in her throat. "Would it be really horrible if I said 'and so are you'?"

"Really cheesy and I would prefer the word 'handsome', but it's not that horrible," Scorpius smiled at her, his hand reaching out to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear. Rose faintly wondered how strange it was that every time a moment like this happened in movies, books and whatnot, hair was conveniently out of place. Then she inwardly shrugged; she really didn't care.

"Good, 'cause I think it's true anyway," Rose grinned as he leaned forward and their lips met.


End file.
